7. Conclusion and Recommendation
The coming decade will be defined by a grid that is rich in energy but poor in stability. In that environment, the most valuable thing a city can do with its largest discretionary electrical load — cooling — is to take it off the electricity system entirely, and to site synchronous, stabilising generation at the heart of demand. Bio-methane CCHP with absorption cooling does both at once.
It is recommended that the IUM programme adopt the displacement of electrical load as the headline benefit in its engagement with combined authorities, network operators and funders; that all programme materials frame CCHP primarily as a resilience and security measure; and that the quantification of avoided peak load, returned inertia and local voltage support be carried forward as a defined workstream within the research programme, producing the evidence base that converts this argument from proposition into demonstrated fact.
Source note: Grid-stability framing draws on Kathryn Porter, Watt-Logic, “Maintaining grid stability in a wind and solar world” (June 2026) and “Electrification — can the grid cope?” (January 2026). The April 2025 Iberian blackout is referenced per the ENTSO-E expert panel and Red Eléctrica findings as summarised therein.